The Wet Seal taps new chief digital officer

The Wet Seal is welcoming back Jon Kubo, this time as EVP and chief digital officer, a newly created position. Kubo will oversee e-commerce, digital marketing and the information technology organization to integrate digital consumer experiences across all business touch points.



Kubo was head of e-commerce and chief information officer at Wet Seal from 2005 through 2011. The company credits him with growing its e-commerce business to its highest sales volume in history through innovative and industry-leading social and mobile customer engagement programs.



Kubo also led the company’s information technology organization. Most recently, he was head of product strategy at Fluid, a web development firm, and was previously chief product officer at 8th Bridge, a social commerce startup, until it was acquired by Fluid in April 2014. Prior to joining Wet Seal in 2005, Kubo was chief administrative officer for FAO Schwarz and chief information officer for FAO and also held several executive positions in the software technology industry.



Kubo earned a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master’s degree in engineering from California State University at Fullerton and an MBA from the Peter Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University.



“I am excited to bring Jon back to lead our critically important e-commerce business, along with digital marketing and information technology. Jon’s tremendous vision and innovative leadership during his prior Wet Seal tenure resulted in the most successful e-commerce performance in the company’s history. We are confident that Jon’s expertise will return us to the forefront as an e-commerce leader within the teen retail space,” said CEO Ed Thomas.